Radial excavator



m0. McDONALD. RADIAL EXCAVATOR APPUCATYON' FILED JULY 2..19 i9.

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RADIAL EXCAVATOR.

APPLiCATlON FILED JULY 2. 1919.

1,367,160. Patented Feb. 1,1921.

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6 SHEETS-SHE] 4- D. C. McDONALD.

RADIAL EXCAVATOR. APPLICATION HLED luLY'z. 1919.

- Patented Feb. 1, 1921.

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Silo meg D. C. MCDOVALD.

RADIAL EXCAVATOR.

APPLICATXON FILED JULY 2.1919

1,367,166. Patented Feb. 1,1921.

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DAVID e. MoDONALD; or HAMMONTON, CALIFORNIA.

RADIAL nxcnvA'ron.

fepecification of Letters Patent Patented 1W1, 1921.

Application filed July 2, 1919. Serial No. 368,101.

To alt to 7mm it '12 my concern lie 1t lrnown that I, Davin C. MoDonALn,

a citizen of the United States, residing at l-lammonton, in the county of Yuba; and titate of Llaliiornia have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Radial Ego cavators, of which thefollowing is a specification, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings This invention relates to excavators used ior'digging ditches, canals, building levees, and for other or general. excavating pur poses. and particularly to an excavator of that ty pe r-vherein a pivoted and swingingly mounted frame 's provided carrying thereon an endless element provided with excavating buckets. v i

The general object of this invention is to provide a mechanism of this character in cluding a wheeled supporting frame, an exea {or beam, as it may be termed, made of lattice-work which is so mounted upon the supp mg frame that its forward end may be raised, or lowered vertically, or that it may be swung from right to left, the beam carrying rliers at its ends supporting an endless excavating element having excavating buckets thereon, power operated means being ,n'ovided whereby the beam may be raised or lowered or swung horizontally and wliercby power may be transniitted to the rollers.

further object is to provide improved means for transmitting power fromthe motor or engine on the main frame to the driving roller carried by the beam, Which improved transmission will permit the free movement of the beam.

A further object is to provide improved means for supporting the forward end of sa d evcavator carrying beam so that it may be raised'or lowered and caused to traverse i om right to left and will be at all times braced against side stresses.

A further object is to provide means permir mg the excavating beam to rotate or swmg about a vertical axis and be raised or lowered, and. particularly provide means for maintaining the lower end of the excavator beannat alt times in a horizontal position, thus preventing the excavating buckets as they pass the outer roller on the excavating beam from einr r so inclined that the buckets will ElOt properly cut into the earth.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

li igurel is'a side elevation of an excavator constructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a forward end elevation;

Fig. at is a fragmentary side elevation showing the means for supporting the excavator beam and the driving means for the excavator;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary elevation showing a front view of the hopper 7 6 and an elevation of the carrier 77 Figs. 6 and 7 are sectional views through n u :i W 3., the Slldlt; 5 4, showingrespectively the brake and clutch used in connection with each one of the winding drums;

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the clutch shown in 7;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional. view of the arcuate track 15 and the hangers supported therefrom;

lhg. 10 is an end elevation of the means for supporting the excavator beam;

llig. ll is a top plan view of the construction shown in Fig. 10;

i Fig. 1.2 is a section on the Fig. 13 is a section 011 the line l3-13 of Fig. 11;

Fi g. 1% is side elevation of the means for line 1212 of supporting the excavator beam and permitframe.

Tileferring to these drawings, it will be seen that provide a main supporting frame consisting of longittnlinally extending beams 10 connected by transverse beams ll disposed at intervals along the length of the beams l0, vertical supports 12, and longitudinally extending framing beams 13. Truss-beams may form a part of this frame, as will be obvious, so as to further strengthen the frame, but I do not wish to be limited to any particular construction for the frame. The frame may be mounted upon wheels or otherwise supported on the ground so that it may be moved longitudinally in the excavation. A medially disposed, longitudinally extending beam 1d extends the full length of the frame below the level of the beams 13. Disposed upon the tloiavard end of this structure is a slightly arcuate track 15 formed of Tiron, Whic is supported at its ends on downwardly and rearwardly extending braces 16 and held from lateral movement by converging, rearwardly extending braces 17 connected to the forward upper cross beam of the frame.

. Suitably mounted upon the floor of the as at 20, at two points on each side of the center of the pintle 19. Disposed above the base 18 is a circular turn-table or disk 21 having downwardly extending ears 22 which extend into the transverse grooves or recesses 20, and through which ears the pintle 19 passes. Thus, this member 21 has rocking engagement with the base for movement transverse to the longitudinalaxis of the machine. Disposed above the disk or plate 21 is a second disk or plate 23, and through the center of both of these plates 21 and 23 passes a king bolt 24 or like element forming a pivot upon which the disk 23 may rotate with relation to the disk 21. The ccnfronting faces of the disks 21 and 23 are formed with raceways within which are disposed anti-friction balls or other anti-friction elements 25. It will thus be seen that the two disks 21 and 23. together constitute a turntable and the base therefor. The disk 23 has upwardly extending pedestals 26 formed to provide bearings 27 for a transverse shaft or pintle 28, and disposed outward of the pedestals 26 are pedestals 29 also having bearings through which the transverse pintle, shaft or pivot 28 passes, these pedestals 29 having caps 30 holding the pintle 28 in lace in its bearings.

the base are supports 31 which are rigid with the base and carried on the upper ends of these supports arethe laterally opposed, arcuate tracks 32 which are concentric to the pivotal axis of the turn-table.

Extending longitudinally of the machine and disposed partly within the main supporting frame is an excavator supporting beam, designated generally 33, which may be of any suitable construction, but is preferably made in the form of a lattice girder soas to be light and yet strong. This lattice girder has attached to it oppositely disposed plates or webs 34 formed to provide the downwardly extending ears 35 through which the shaft or pintle 28 passes, these ears extending down into the space between the pedestals 26 and 29. It willthus be seen that this beam 33"is mounted for rocking movement in a vertical plane.

T he rear'end of the lattice-work beam 33 carries upon it insultable bearings, a manysided roller 36 or tumbler, and the shaft 37 xtending upward from opposite sides of,

of this roller or tumbler carries upon it the gear wheel 38. Mounted upon the other end of the beam 33 in suitable bearings is the roller 39, and over the rollers 36 and 39 passes an endless chain composed of links 10, these links carrying excavating buckets 411. The chain with its buckets is intended to move in a counter-clockwise direction in a cyclic path and the upper flight of the chain is supported at intervals by rollers 12 mounted upon suitable brackets as, in turn mounted upon the lattice-work beam For the purpose of supporting the forward end of the beam 33, 1 provide a yoke 44. attached to the forward end of the beam 33, this yoke extending upward over the upper flight of the endless chain and having thereon a carrying sheave Mounted upon the arcuate track 15 is a traveler or trolley 16 which supports a sheave 4:7, and passing over the sheaves 45 and -17 is a cable -18 which extends to the rear end of the frame and over suitable guiding pulleys and passes onto a winding drum. y operating this winding drum, the forward end of the excavator beam can be raised or lowered as desired. The trolley -16 will shift on the arcuate track as the excavator beam is swung to one side or the other.

For the purpose of driving the excavator chain and also for the purpose of raising or lowering and laterally shifting the excavator beam, 1 provide a motor or engine -19 and provide on the excavator beam above the pivotal axis formed by the transverse pintle 28, the shaft 50 which carries upon it a band wheel 51 and also carries upon it the gear wheel 52. This gear wheel 52 intermeshes with a gear wheel 53 on whose shaft is mounted a smaller gear wheel 51-, and this gear wheel 5& intermeshes with the relatively large gear wheel 38 on the shaft 37. The motor 49 is connected by means of a band to a band wheel 56 mounted upon a shaft 57. Thus power is transmitted to this shaft. Mounted upon this shaft is a rope drive wheel 58. Over this rope drive. wheel passes an endless element, preferably of rope, designated 59. The lower flight of this rope 59 passes from the drive wheel 58 forward and downward and beneath a fixed pulley or band wheel 60, then upward and over the band wheel 51, thence downward and beneath pulley 61, and thence rearward and over a movable pulley or belt tightening sheave .frrtached to this sheave 62 is a cable 63 which passes upward and over a fixed pulley 6 1 and the end of the cable 63 is attached to a counter-weigrht 65. This counter-weight will keep the drive i.:

rope or cable 59 tent at all times and will take up or let out slack in the drive cable to compensate for the movements of the excavator beam in a manner which will be obvious.

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on the shaft 57, but the usual clutcl'i is pro vided for throwing this winding drum into or out of engagement with the shaft 57 and the usual brake is provided for holding the drum when released :l'rom its engagement with the shaft. By this means the forward end of the excavating beam may be raised or lowered.

For the purpose of swinging the excavat ing beam from one side to the other, I provide the cables 68 which are attached to the forward end of the supporting beam 33 on each side thereof and extend laterally in opposits directions and pass around the pulleys 69 supported on lateral anchors '70. These cables extend rearward anddownward and pass over pulleys 71 mounted upon the forward ends of the beams 10 and then pass rearward and are engaged over winding drums 72 disposed on opposite ends of the shaft 57, each of these winding drums being provided with a sluitz-tble clutch 79f whereby it may be engaged with the shaft 57 or disengaged. therefrom, and with a brake whereby it may be held from movement. It will. be obvious now that it one of these drums is released and the other drum is engaged with the shaft, that one of the cables would be wound up and the other unwound so that the excavator beam will be swung laterally to an extent permitted by the arcuate track 15. I

Forthe purpose of moving the machine forward toward the work, I have illustrated a cable 7 3 which is anchored in any suitable manner 011 the breast of the work. This extends upward and rearward over a pulley and then extends rearward and over a pulley 74 and then downward and around a wind ing drum 75, which is also loosely mounted on the shaft 57 and is provided with means whereby it maybe clutched to the shaft or released thereirom and provided with the usual brake. Other means might be provided for driving themachine forward, as it is obvious that the motor might be connected to the traction supporting wheels of the machine for this purpose.

Disposed beneath the rear end of the excavating beam a hopper 76 which re ceives the earth discharged from thebuclr; ets a1 as they pass over the rear roller 36 and discharges this earth upon the lower end of a laterally extending, endless carrier which is supported upon a beam 77, this beam being pivoted upon a transverse pintle '28 supported in suitable bearings and the beam carrying rollers at i s inner and outer ends, over which passes an endless carrier of any usual and suitable construction. The beam 77 is supported by means of cables 7 9 which are attachedto the main frame.

The shaft 80 of the outer roller support ing this endless carrier carries thereon rope drive wheels 81, over which pass two drive wheel cables 82 which extend laterally inward, pass over suitable sheaves or pulleys 83, and then pass around a rope drive wheel 84: loosely mounted on the shaft 5'? and adapted to be clutched to this shaft or released. from engagement therewith. By this means the earth discharged from the sow eral buckets will be discharged into the hopper, then onto the endless carrier, and discharged. laterally over the top of the ditch or excavatioinor in any other desired place,as into wagons.

It will be seen from what has gonebefore that I have provided an excavator having supporting beam which is mounted for vertical movement and for swinging movement so that the excavating buckets may be oscillated laterally across the face of the Work or raised and lowered as the work progresses, and that the machine may be fed forward from time to time as desired. It is also to be noted, and is a very important part of my invention, that the turn-table upon which the excavating beam is pivoted for vertical movement is also mounted for lateral tilting movement on an axis formed by the longitudinally extending pintle 19.

Coasting with this longitudinal pintle or axis 19 and the transverse pintle or axis 28 oi. the turn-table are the arcuate tracks 32,

and these elements are provided so as to keep the lower end of the excavating beam in a horizontal position at all times.

It will be seen that by driving the driving roller or tumbler 36 by means of the rope drive as described, the excavating beam may be partially rotated about its axis 24; without preventing thetransmission of full powerto the endless chain of exca'vating, buckets. It will likewise be seen that the forward end of the excavating beam is fully supported. at all times and that by the use of the traveling hanger 46 the point of suspension of the excavating beam is always vertically over the excavat ing beam, and thus side stretches are eliminated. With the rope drive, the traveling suspension and the particular manner of mounting the excavator beam for lateral tilting movement, as well as rotary and vertical movement, I provide power operated means for shifting the excavator beam, I provide for the transmission of necessary power to the chain of excavator buckets, and I provide for maintaining the lowerend of the excavator beam in a horizontal position without regard to the lateral movement of the excavator beam.

The face of the supporting framework formed of the longitudinal members 10 and transverse supporting members is cut away,

as illustrated in Fig. 14, so as to permit the supporting beam 33 to be turned to a much greater angle than is illustrated in Fig. 1.

While I have illustrated a form of my invention which I believe to be thoroughly effective in practice, it will be obvious that many changes might be made in the details of construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention.

v 1; An excavator of the character described comprising a supporting frame, an excavator beam, a turn-table upon which the beam is pivotally supported for vertical movement with reference to the turn-table and horizontal movement with the turn-table, an endless chain of excavating buckets carried upon said beam, power operated means for shifting the beam vertically or swinging it horizontally, power operated means for driving the excavator buckets in all positions of the beam, means for suspending the forward end of the excavator beam includ ing a transversely extending arouate track concentric to the axis of rotation of the turntable, and a trolley mounted on the track for movement thereon and operatively connected to the beam.

2. An excavator of the character described comprising a main supporting frame, a turntable mounted thereon for rotation in a horizontal plane, an excavator beam pivotally mounted upon the turn-table for movement in a vertical plane, means for supporting the forward end-of the beam from the main frame and including a laterally movable trolley, and a track on which the trolley moves concentric to the axis of the turntable, a driving roller on the rear end of the beam, a supporting roller on the forward end of the beam, an endless bucket-carrying element moving over said rollers, a motor on the main frame, and means for transmitting power from the motor to the driving roller of the excavator comprising a band wheel mounted on the beam and operatively connected to the driving roller, an endless driving element passing around the band wheel and operatively engaged by the roller, and a counter-weighted take-up wheel over which the endless element passes.

" 3. An excavator comprising a main supporting frame, a turn-table mounted thereon, an excavator beam mounted upon the turn-table for rotation therewith and pivotally supported for independent vertical movement, a motor, power operated means connected to the motor for laterally shifting the excavator beam and rotating the turntable, an arcuate track supported by the -main frame above the forward end of the excavator beam, a trolley mounted upon the track and laterally movable thereon, pulleys carriedby the excavator beam and said trolley, a drum driven from the motor, and a cable wound on the drum and passing over said pulleys and thereby connecting the excavator beam to the trolley and permitting the raising or lowering of the excavating beam.

4. An excavator comprising a main supporting frame, a turn-table mounted thereon, an excavator beam mounted upon the turn-table for rotation therewith and pivotally supported for independent vertical movement, a motor, power operated means connected to the motor for laterally shifting the excavator beam and rotating the turntable, an arcuate track supported by the main frame above the forward end of the excavator beam, a trolley mounted upon the track and laterally movable thereon, pulleys carried by the excavator beam and said trolley, a drum driven from the motor, a cable wound on the drum and passing over said pulleys and thereby connecting the excavator beam to the trolley and permitting the raising or lowering of the excavating beam, an endless element operatively mounted upon the excavator beam for cyclic movement longitudinally of the frame and carrying excavator buckets, a hopper at the. rear end of the beam and into which the buckets discharge, and a laterally extending, vertically movable conveyer into which the hopper discharges, a motor mounted on the main frame, and means for transmitting power from the motor to the endless element and from the motor to the laterally extending conveyor.

5. An excavator of the character described comprising a main frame, a turn-table mounted on the main frame comprising upper and lower elements, the upper element being rotatably mounted upon the lower element, the lower element being mounted upon a longitudinally extending pintle for lateral tilting movement, bearings carried upon the upper element, a transversely extending pintle mounted upon said bearings, an excavator beam operatively pivoted upon said pintle for vertical oscillation and carrying an endless excavating member having buckets, and arouate tracks supported below each end of the last named pintle, the last named pintle engaging the upper edges of said tracks.

6. In an excavator of the character described, a supporting frame an excavator beam mounted upon a vertical axis for oscillation on its vertical axis and mounted upon a horizontal axis for oscillation in a horizontal plane, and means for supporting the beam against lateral tilting movement as the excavator beam is rotated on its vertical axis and depressed at its forward end, said means comprising a member rotating in an approximately horizontal plane upon which the excavator beam is mounted for vertical oscillation, a transverse shaft carried by said named turn table member for oscillation in a vertical plane, a shaft constituting a pivot connecting the second named turn table member with the beam, and tracks disposed on each side of the turn-table members and extendin parallel to the longitudinal axis of the frame and upon which the shaft bears.

8. An excavator of the character described comprising a supporting frame, an excavator beam, a turn-table element pivotally mounted upon the frame for lateral tilting movement, a turn-table element rotatably mounted upon the first named element and having upwardly extending ears, a shaft passin through said ears and projecting beyond them, an excavator supporting beam pivotally mounted upon the shaft for movement in a vertical plane, an endless chain of ex cavator buckets mounted upon the excavator beam, means for oscillating the beam in a vertical plane and for shifting it laterally around its vertical axis, and means for rendering the beam transversely horizontal in all positions in which it may be placed.

9. An excavator of the character described comprising a supportin frame, an excavator beam, a turn-table element pivotally mounted upon the frame for lateral tilting movement, a turn-table element ro tatably mounted upon the first named element and having upwardly extending ears, a shaft passing through said ears and projecting beyond them, an excavator supporting beam pivotally mounted upon the shaft for movement in a vertical plane, an endless chain of excavator buckets mounted upon the excavator beam, means foroscillating the beam in a vertical plane and for shifting it laterally around its vertical axis, and means for rendering the beam transversely horizontal in all positions in which it may be placed, including tracks mounted on each side of the turn-table and ext-ending from front to rear, the shaft connecting the beam to the second named turn-table element resting upon said tracks.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

DAVID C. MCDONALD.

Witnesses SARAH J. MoDoNALn, E. L. TITUS. 

